Robert Gibbs

The now infamous White House party crashers spoke out for the first time this morning on NBC’s The Today Show. BravoTV, creators of the Real Housewives Franchise, is also owned by NBC Universal, the parent company of NBC.

Michaeleand Tareq Salahitold the “Today” show Tuesday that there’s more to their side of the story — an explanation that would exonerate them from allegations of misconduct in the breach of White House security. When asked to expand on the explanation, they failed to, claiming they wanted to would wait until the Secret Service was done investigating. However, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, appearing on the same program, insisted the Salahis had not been invited.

Tareq Salahi said he and his wife were cooperating with the Secret Service in its investigation of the incident. And he said they both have “great respect” for President Barack Obama. “We’re greatly saddened by all the circumstances … portraying my wife and I as party crashers. I can tell you we did not party-crash the White House,” Salahi said.

The couple also made it clear they were not being paid for their Today Show interview, and also denied the recent AP news story which alleged they were looking to cash in on their new “fame.”

In other news, a different report claims Bravo might be having second thoughts about casting the Salahis to appear on their upcoming show, the Real Housewives of Washington D.C. According to Popeater, a huge fight erupted within Bravo’s New York offices yesterday over what to do with accused White House crashers. Andy Cohen, host and Senior Vice president of Original Programming of Bravo, is said to be worried about the reputation of his Emmy nominated network. Allegedly, Andy wants no part of the fame hungry couple and wants them axed from the upcoming ‘Real Housewives of DC.

A Bravo spokes person said, “The decision as to who will be included in ‘The Real Housewives of D.C.’ will not be made for several months.”

If this story is true about Bravo wanting no part of the Salahis, then it would make them appear a bit hypocritical, considering the success of their housewives franchise is based solely on casting posers, fakers, wannabes, and fame hungry women. The Salahis fit right in with the formula they created for their hit series. In my opinion, it would be borderline idiotic to remove these two from the show, as long as Bravo was unaware of their party crashing scheme, I say leave them on the show. The ratings will go through the roof. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what Bravo wants?